Despite my experience in finite difference analysis for heat transfer problems, there were many aspects regarding stability and convergence of various solution algorithms that I learned from _Numerical_Methods_. Some portions of the text are easier reading than others, depending on familiarity with various techniques and the equation forms to solve. In fluid mechanics, a combination of pressure (elliptic equations) and mass transport (parabolic equations) produce complications that may be difficult to treat. Since heat transfer was my primary computational focus, I found the sections on parabolic solutions easier to grasp than others such as on fast Fourier transforms.

The book's treatment is one of explanation rather than mathematical proofs, albeit with the assumption that differential calculus and some background in discretized equations are understood. Example routines coded in FORTRAN are mentioned in the text and in the appendix, available on a corresponding internet site at Stanford. Overall, a useful reference and helpful addition to an engineer's library.